Storm's trees turned into art in Galveston

Updated 3:07 pm, Monday, April 1, 2013

A sculpture of a geisha was created from a tree destroyed in 2008 by Hurricane Ike in Galveston.

A sculpture of a geisha was created from a tree destroyed in 2008 by Hurricane Ike in Galveston.

Photo: Courtesy Of Galveston CVB

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At 1620 Sealy Street, a sculpture called the Birds of Galveston rises at least 15 feet into the air. Sculptor Dale Lewis carved 17 birds straining to take flight along limbs arching in various directions.

At 1620 Sealy Street, a sculpture called the Birds of Galveston rises at least 15 feet into the air. Sculptor Dale Lewis carved 17 birds straining to take flight along limbs arching in various directions.

Photo: Kathleen Scott For The Express-News

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A squirrel clutches an acorn in this hurricane tree sculpture in Galveston.

A squirrel clutches an acorn in this hurricane tree sculpture in Galveston.

Photo: Kathleen Scott For The Express-News

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A toad on a tree stump looks upward with a tentative smile in one of Galveston's East End hurricane tree sculptures.

A toad on a tree stump looks upward with a tentative smile in one of Galveston's East End hurricane tree sculptures.

Photo: Kathleen Scott For The Express-News

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Chunks of the trunk were placed around this guitar sculpture to emphasize how large the tree was before Hurricane Ike killed it.

Chunks of the trunk were placed around this guitar sculpture to emphasize how large the tree was before Hurricane Ike killed it.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News

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Visitors enjoy a narrated tour of Galveston's hurricane sculptures, offered by several vendors.

Visitors enjoy a narrated tour of Galveston's hurricane sculptures, offered by several vendors.

Photo: Kathleen Scott For The Express-News

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This Great Dane sculpture at 1228 Sealy Street in Galveston often sports seasonal accessories.

This Great Dane sculpture at 1228 Sealy Street in Galveston often sports seasonal accessories.

Photo: Kathleen Scott For The Express-News

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Storm's trees turned into art in Galveston

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GALVESTON — As my husband, Denny, and I drove across the causeway to Galveston, the breeze was soft, with a hint of salt. Island air.

By the time we came to the Texas Heroes Monument, which rises seven stories from the intersection of Broadway and 25th Street, we were passing Victorian-era structures accented with gingerbread trim and tricolor paint schemes. Galveston is more than just a beach town.

As we turned left on 17th Street and entered the East End Historical District, a neighborhood of well-kept homes, scattered among the lawns were 21 wooden sculptures crafted from remains of trees that flourished before Hurricane Ike in 2008. After the storm, many East End residents returned to find homes marked by waist-high waterlines. The trees stood like skeletons along the streets, leafless and dying from immersion in salt water.

Donna Leibbert, an East Ender who says she is “affectionately known as the crazy lady who wants trees carved,” remembers what the area looked like in the weeks following the storm. “We lived with 40,000 dead and dying trees. It was depressing, it was gray. It just took your breath away to see block after block after block of dead trees.” She lost a century-old live oak from her front yard.

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“I was devastated. I loved that tree. The doves cooed in that tree; there were birds, there were squirrels, there were hummingbirds and things that were always around that tree. But when one door closes, another opens. And now we have beautiful sculpture.”

Most of the East End sculptures were carved by three men: Earl Jones of Galveston, Dale Lewis of Richmond, Ind., and Jim Phillips of Houston. Chain saws were used for the bulk of the work with rotary tools, chisels and other hand tools used for fine shaping.

After the artists and homeowners agreed on designs, Donna says, the artists “let the trees talk to them about what the tree could do and what it couldn't.”

As we toured the area, we saw dolphins rising from roots, wading birds perching on stumps, and angels standing in place of trunks.

The sculptures were as individual as the homeowners who commissioned them. A toad on a tree-stump pad glanced upward with a tentative smile. A knee-high squirrel clutched a giant acorn.

At 1228 Sealy, a graceful two-story home with an iron fence, a statue of a large gray dog stood on its hind legs, with its front paws holding the rail of the fence. The owner's Great Dane was the model for the sculpture. Shortly after the sculpture was finished in 2010, someone stole one of the paws. The next day the homeowners added a sign, “$100 reward for return of paw or $500 for arm of thief.” The owners had another paw carved and attached; the dog, which wears accessories, has remained intact since.

The owner first added these touches on a whim and continued because “people made comments and were sort of cheered up.” The day we toured, a red kerchief was tied around the dog's neck. In late February the dog wore an Aggies ball cap.

Where to Stay: The Victorian Inn, a B&B circa 1899 located in the East End, is on the sculpture tour. The gardens are a certified wildlife habitat and bunny sanctuary. Easy walking distance to East End cafes and The Strand. vicbb.com or 409-762-3235. Listings for a range of other island lodgings at galveston.com, click “Where to Stay”.

Good Eats in the East End: These cafes are off the beaten tourist trail and specialize in home-made and delicious. The Sunflower Bakery & Cafe, 512 14th Street, open daily, thesunflowerbakeryandcafe.com or 409-763-5500. Mosquito Cafe, 628 14th Street, open Tuesday-Sunday, mosquitocafe.com or 409-763-1010.

A circle of five leaping dolphins and a mermaid stand beside a gold home with white trim at 828 Ball St. The mermaid holds a conch shell to her lips. The trunk from which the figures were carved is at least 6 feet in circumference.

A neighbor said the tree had played an important role in the life of the family who lived there. “The children had climbed in it, played in it; it was a sanctuary for them. ... To have that tree carved into something meant that the family kept their family tree.”

After Leibbert persuaded city fathers to allow the first hurricane sculptures to be carved next to the City Hall fire station, others adopted the idea. Today more than 50 hurricane tree sculptures dot the island, with the biggest concentration in the East End, where a 43-block sculpture tour has been mapped. The tour winds along east-west streets from Sealy to Postoffice. Maps may be downloaded from Galveston.com or picked up from the visitors center on Broadway.

You can see most of the sculptures from the street. Walk, bike, drive or take a narrated tour on a Segway, tram or van. By the end of the tour, you'll sense the quirky, resilient spirit of this island community. It shows in the transformation of dead trees, and in the wood itself as exposed by the artists' handiwork. Knot-holes, color streaks and cracks give tactile evidence that life is about change and life goes on.